Soul Kingdom: Part White
by Soul Rider
Summary: A seven part story, revealing many hidden mysteries in the lives of some of the most famous heroes in the gaming world. How will these heroes accept the secrets behind the worlds' origins and how will they combat against the true evil that threatens it? This is Sly Cooper's story.
1. Prologue

**Thanks to some awesome people on the SK Wiki, we can now have the novel version of maybe the greatest crossover ever! So hold on to your hats, caps, scarves and etc. etc., and here we go into the universe of _Soul Kingdom_!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

I didn't know where I was. One moment, I was falling to the concrete, then I felt like I was drowning, and now I'm here. Wherever here was with this person. It started to feel like I was in a dream with the assuring light of the glass platform... with me?

The platform was mostly white, silver and blue with rings and circles. My gang and I were on the glass, but they were in the smaller circles, at least four of the seven. I was stretched over the right three, and almost half of the whole platform. I looked like I was sleeping, so I must be dreaming.

 _"Step forward,"_ a voice echoed.

"What the?" Who just spoke? It couldn't be that thing from over there. "Who's there?"

" _Step forward."_

A block suddenly appeared. I guess there was nothing I could do but move toward the block. I climbed onto the cube and it suddenly lit up. A larger platform, almost like a pillar, filled the gap between me and the person.

 _"Step forward and meet the other link."_ A bridge connected the platforms. Without another option, I crossed. The glass platform felt foreign against my feet, different, childish, like an innocence of some sort. Like it didn't belong to me, at least not just me, but others as well.

The other person crossed too. I had never seen anything like them before. They had spiky, light brown hair, blue eyes, tan skin, and clothes with lots of zippers and pockets. I couldn't put my finger on what they were, though. Just by looking at them, I knew they were male and several years younger than me.

 _"Do not fear him. He is your new ally."_ Trusting those words, I approached him. He did the same. We were a foot apart when we stopped. We just stood for a few moments, waiting for the other to move or something. Then, he held out a hand warily. He seemed friendly enough and that look in his eyes showed truth and willingness to accept me. It felt like decades passed before I took his hand.

"I'm Sly. Sly Cooper." He smiled to me. For a young adult, he radiated a childish aura that was surprisingly soothing.

"I'm Sora," he told me, before politely pulling away. "This must be the first time I've seen someone like you here."

"Where is 'here' anyway?" I really needed to know that now.

"Oh, it's your first time here. Well-" Before Sora could finish, some kind of force shoved us away. Then, a barrier split the platform.

 _"There are times you must fight on your own..."_

"That voice again...!"

"You heard it too?" Sora called in response. Suddenly, small black creatures started phasing out of the ground. "Heartless?! Not now!"

"Heartless?"

"I can't explain right now! Just don't let them near your heart!" Something glowed in his hands and a key- a sword? - formed. I had so many questions now and Sora couldn't answer any of them at the time. What were these "Heartless"? What was this to do with my heart? Just what was going on?

The dark creatures lunged at me. I swung my cane on instinct, swatting them away. They just came back, as if I hadn't hit them at all. No matter how many times they came back, no matter how hard I hit them, they just got back up. Before I knew it, I was backed to the edge of the platform above the dark abyss.

 _"And there are times you must battle side by side."_ The barrier disappeared. I lost focus for a second and a Heartless scratched my shoulder. I was stung with pain and unable to fight, but in a flash, Sora and his sword had destroyed all of them.

"You okay, Sly?" Sora asked.

"I've been through worse. How did you do that?"

"The Heartless come from a place called the Realm of Darkness. Only this weapon, the Keyblade, can properly destroy them." So that weapon of his was called a Keyblade. Very fitting.

"So you can just summon it out of your own will?"

"The Keyblade is more connected to your heart. You need a strong heart to wield a Keyblade." A strong heart...

Suddenly, the platform became covered in shadows. Then, the shadows gathered into one, humongous monstrosity.

"Is that a Heartless?"

"Yep." Sora prepared to fight again.

"Stay close Sly and don't lose your light. Lose your light and you'll never escape the darkness." I didn't know if that was literal or metaphorical, but I knew I needed to help Sora.

This Heartless was stronger than the smaller ones. Sora had a little more of a struggle battling it. I wished I could do more than distract it with swats from my cane. I never felt so useless in a time like this. Finally, Sora landed the final blow and the giant Heartless fell onto the platform.

Crack!

Did I just hear a crack?

Suddenly, the Heartless broke apart, plunging the platform into darkness. I heard more cracking sounds follow.

"Look out, Sly!"

The platform shattered beneath my feet. I felt myself falling again, only it was pitch black. I looked frantically and saw Sora falling as well.

"Sora!"

I reached my hand out, hoping to maybe grab his hand. However, before I was even a yard close, everything went black.

* * *

I woke up with my head throbbing, eyesight blurry and taking gasps of air as if I had stopped breathing for a second. It was like I was drunk last night and recovering from a hangover. What just happened? The Heartless, the darkness, Sora... Was it all just a dream? Did I only imagine meeting Sora? No, it felt too real to have been a dream, and my body hurt where the Heartless hit. Then, I noticed a faint glow. On a nightstand I had in the hideout was that large, white gem. The one that mysteriously appeared in my hand on that night of the meteor shower. That's right, I fell as soon as it happened, then I met Sora. It had to be connected.

I got up from my bed in the hideout and placed my favorite cap on. Picking up my backpack, cane and the jewel, I went to Bentley and Penelope's lab.

"Morning, lovebirds," I called. My best bud and his girlfriend turned to me in surprise.

"Sly, you're awake!" Penelope said in relief.

"You've been out for almost a whole day, pal!" Bentley pointed out. "How on Earth could you have fallen after using the Ninja Spire Jump after so many times?" There was no way I could tell Bentley and Penelope about Sora. They'd never believe me.

"I don't know, to be honest," I told them. "I just suddenly felt dizzy after this appeared." I showed them the white gem.

"I think that jewel is at the center of what happened that night. Could you see if you can find anything on it?"

"I've never seen anything like this, but Penelope and I will take a look. If we find anything interesting, we'll call." Bentley took the jewel from me and the two went to their genius work. I decided to see how Murray and Carmelita were doing. I found both of them in our makeshift training room. When I entered, Murray was the first to notice me and then he crushed me in his signature hug.

"Sly, Ol' Chum, you're okay!" he yelled in joy.

"Sly Cooper, do you know how much you worried me?!" my sweet Carmelita scolded me angrily, but with concern as well.

"I know, but I'm feeling better now. Bentley and Penelope are trying to figure out what happened as we speak. I'll let you know if they find anything unusual."

"Are you sure you're alright, Ringtail? You did end up with quite a bump on your head."

"I promise, I'm fine. Last night, I just felt dizzy. Bentley and Penelope are working out an explanation."

"If you say so, Sly," Murray commented.

It was a few minutes later while snacking on what was available (I hadn't realized how hungry I was earlier) when Bentley and Penelope came into the room.

"Sly, this gem has us baffled," Penelope started.

"What do you mean? Did you find anything at all? I would be very surprised if you two, some of the smartest people I know, couldn't find a thing."

"Well, not on the Internet, at least," Bentley explained. "We looked through everything that tied to gemstones, even mythical meanings, but there's nothing about the gem you found, Sly. Penelope and I ran a few experiments of our own, and all we can say is that this jewel has some crazy amount of energy in it. There's enough power to maybe run a continent!"

"What?! Is that possible?!"

"After what we've been through, I'm not completely surprised," Carmelita commented.

"Also, we have confirmed that this gem may not be of this world," Penelope added.

"Not of our world?" Murray questioned.

"We mean it could be from another planet, or even another dimension! This gem has the power to do that!"

"Is the energy in one gem really that powerful?" Carmelita asked in surprise.

"I asked the same question," Bentley said, "but the energy readings can't be lying. If any of you have info on what is going on here, let me or Penelope know." So this gem... Came from another world or another dimension entirely. Does that mean Sora... is from another world too? Then... how was it possible we had met? Was it really the gem's power?

"Sly, are you okay?" Bentley asked.

"I'm fine, Bentley. Just trying to take this in after all that happened that night."

"As long as you're okay. Remember, out heist is tonight." Right. Our heist on those old associates of Le Paradox is tonight.

"This one has me excited. Are you ready to go over the plan, or do you need more time?"

"N-no, I'm good. I have it mapped out by heart."

"Hopefully this will go better than the museum heists. Should we do it now?"

"Hang on, Sly. We should give you a few more minutes to rest."

"Come on, mom. Stop worrying. I'm perfectly alright."

"If you say so. If we're all ready, I say we should head out and start this heist."

Well, time to get this heist underway.

* * *

 **And this is only the prologue! There is more to come so stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 1: Heist Ambush

**And here is Chapter 1 of the White Chapter of** ** _SK_** **!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Heist Ambush**

What was it with Paris and these rat guards? I thought after everything with Le Paradox, I'd stop seeing them. Then again, there was the robot rats from last time. And this was some of Le Paradox's extra flunkies we're stealing from, so it sort of makes sense. Using my binocucom, I zoomed in on where the heist was to be pulled off.

"Okay, everyone is in position," Bentley announced on the earpiece. "Murray will create a distraction for the thugs out front and Sly sneaks in through the vent. You got that tear gas bomb on you, right Sly?" I slip my hand into my satchel to check. The small, olive sized bomb was there, alongside the white gem I held onto.

"Yep."

"Perfect. We'll definitely be needed that for the heist. Just be sure to wait for the right opportunity to use it, Sly."

"OK then. Just let me know when I can start moving through the vent."

Just as soon as the line cut, I saw Murray throwing punches at the guards. He quickly attracted the other thugs' attention.

"Carmelita will there to assist shortly. Now's your chance, Sly. Go to the vent." I quickly Rail Walked across the wires. The vent that I had to crawl through eventually entered my line of sight. There it was. My unique entrance inside was right there.

I started crawling through the vent. "OK Bentley, I'm going through the vent now. What's the plan for when I'm inside?"

"Find the office. That's where Le Paradox's associates will be. Drop the bomb inside when you get there and hightail it out of there. Then, we'll play our next move."

"Got it. I'm on my way to the office now." I made my way inside the office and dropped the bomb, hurrying out as fast as I could to avoid the guards beating me up too much. There was a loud explosion and then the sound of shouts and rumbling feet.

"Nice work, Sly. They'll be running out like little girls and-"

"Sly! We need some help out here!" Carmelita's voice came on. "Whatever these... these things are, my shock pistol does nothing to them!"

"And my fists go right through them!" Murray's voice boomed. I need to ask Bentley to put a volume switch on these. "HElp us out, pal!"

"Carmelita? Murray? What's going on out there?" I asked.

"Get out here and find out, ringtail!"

"Okay, I'm on my way!"

I quickly scurried out of the vent, wondering to myself what exactly were Murray and Carmelita fighting out there. Especially when they said that their attacks were doing nothing to whatever's attacking them.

I arrived to find Murray and Carmelita fighting the same shadow creatures I fought with Sora. I think he called them Heartless, and he said that the cane wouldn't help much. I didn't think I'd see them again. But they were everywhere. What were they even doing here?

 _Just don't let them near your heart!_

Those words suddenly rang through my mind. They were Sora's own words when I had that dream. He said not to let them get near my heart. But how am I supposed to fight back against these things? Sora had this strange key-like sword in that dream and he went through these Heartless like they were nothing. My cane didn't even make a scratch on them.

I then remembered the jewel, how Bentley said it had massive amounts of energy inside it. Maybe it could help me?

"Sly! Need some help!" I heard Murray shout. The Heartless were swarming him. Without thinking, I came at them with the gem firmly in my left hand. All I could think of suddenly was helping Murray.

I didn't realize what happened next until I saw Murray staring at me with wide eyes. All of the Heatless had been destroyed. I could feel my body tingle with power, unlike anything I've ever felt. Then, I looked down at my cane and I was shocked.

My cane... almost didn't look like my cane anymore. The hook was the same as was the neck, but the base... was more of a handle made of a raccoon tail and a medallion on a black string. The end was a wire with my signature calling card on the end.

"Whoa! What happened to your cane, Sly?!" Murray asked. I stared at my cane with a perplexed expression on my face. What DID happen to my cane? I barely recognized it.

"I... I honestly have no idea, Murray." Then I remembered Sora's similar key-shaped sword. Maybe I was using one too?

"Sly!" I heard Carmelita yell. The Heartless that were attacking her were coming at me now. Without thinking, I swatted back at them with my new weapon. One swipe and they vanished. These monsters seemed to be attracted to this weapon, like they're afraid of it.

Once they were gone, the weapon glowed and the power I felt stopped. Then, the weapon turned back into my cane.

Carmelita gave me a very surprised stare. Though, who could blame her, really? I mean, I did just take down those Heartless like they were nothing.

"What exactly happened to your cane there, Sly?" She asked. "I didn't even recognize it until those things disappeared!"

"To be honest, that's exactly what I want to know," I said. What is going on? I wouldn't be surprised if the connection between the strange things that have happened since I got the jewel goes deeper than what I already know.

"Is everyone okay?" Penelope's voice came up. "We picked up strange energy and activity."

"Y-yeah, it's all good. I took care of it."

"What? How?" Bentley asked.

"I think it had something to do with this ge-"

"Wait! Sly, there's some... kind of energy centered on you!"

"Wha-?" Suddenly, I felt my feet sinking.

"Sly, what's going on over there?! I don't know what this energy is, but it's going off the charts!" Bentley exclaimed.

"I think this energy is the same stuff from the jewel. There has to be something about it that we just don't know."

I tried to keep my cool as something cold and... I didn't know how to describe it, but it was wrapping around my feet.

"You mean you took the jewel with you?"

"Hang on, Sly!" Murray interrupted, before he suddenly grabbed me and yanked me up. That's when I saw it. It was some kind of... of pool of purple aura that didn't look safe to touch.

"What's that?" Carmelita questioned, stepping away from it.

"What happening now?!" Bentley called. "The energy is now going crazy!"

"You may want to look for yourself." I took out my binocucom and took a snap shot of the pool.

"What do yo make of this, Bentley?"

"I... I can't make heads or tails of what exactly that is! It's definitely something I've never seen before in my life!" Bentley exclaimed. The worry in his voice definitely didn't calm down my nerves, not even a little bit.

Suddenly, there is some kind of force that threw Murray and Carmelita back. I was about to run to them to make sure they're okay, but the pool just got bigger and I felt myself being pulled in. No matter how hard I tried to get free, I just continued to sink.

I was terrified, even more than when I was in the grip of Dr. M's monster. I continued to thrash, but the grip from this pool just got tighter until I could only use my hands. My left hand went into my satchel and I felt that gem. It felt warmer than usual and I could sense something different. Someone else, reaching out to me. I didn't know why, but one name crossed my mind before everything suddenly went white.

"... Sora..."

* * *

 **There we go, that's chapter 1! More is to come really soon! So please r &r!**


	3. Chapter 2: Islands of Destiny

**Alright! Chapter 2 Time!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Islands of Destiny**

Am I dead? Did I hit my head hard and die? I couldn't tell for sure if I was alive, but I felt like I was laying in a void of darkness. My senses were out of control to the slightest sounds, even though there wasn't a sound in this place. That was, until I heard footsteps. That's when the darkness started to fade. I felt myself laying against a cold floor, maybe made of solid rock. It was getting slightly brighter, and my nose twitched in the humid yet stuffy air. Judging by these elements, I inferred that I was in a cave of sorts.

"...S...y...! ...Sl...!"

My ears then caught the sound of a voice. It was a faint voice at first, until it started to get more and more clearer as the seconds ticked by. It sounded like the voice of a boy. A boy that was calling out my name.

"Sly...! Sly, wake up!"

My body felt stiff, but I managed to push myself up to my knees. I also felt that strange gem still in my hand.

"Are you okay, Sly?"

I looked up at the owner of the voice and saw a boy with blue eyes standing before me. As I stared into the eyes of the boy, the memories of a dream I once had slowly flowed throughout my mind. This boy... He was in that dream I had. He told me his name in that dream as well. What was it again? As the memories of that dream played through my mind, his name slowly became more clear to me. Until finally...

"... Sora...?"

Sora. That was his name.

He nodded at me, relief evident on his face. Sora held his hand out to me and I accepted it. He was strong for... whatever he was, as he pulled me to my feet with ease.

"I can't believe you're really here, Sly," he said.

I was both surprised and happy to see Sora in this cave. I never thought I would see him before me again ever since that dream, but seeing him face to face cleared all of the doubts I had in my mind beforehand.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you again too, Sora. I honestly thought that dream was the only time I would get to see you," I said.

"Me too. It's great to meet you in person." We smiled at each other before Sora brought up a question. "But how are you here?"

I honestly had no clue how we were even meeting again.

"I don't know exactly. It's a bit of a blur." I looked around the cave and I saw all of kinds of drawings and sketches. "Where are we anyway?"

"This would happen to be the islands my friends and I live on. Destiny Islands," he said.

It took me a bit by surprise when I heard Sora mention "friends". Were there actually more of... whatever kind of creature Sora is here? And this Destiny Islands place... It wasn't a place I was familiar with. In fact, I never actually heard of a place like that before until now.

"Ah! The door!" he exclaimed in surprise. I turned around to see what he was talking about and all I saw was a black abyss. Then suddenly, it was sealed by a strange, wooden door.

"Wh-what just happened?"

Sora simply sighed and shook his head in disbelief.

"Sometimes, I feel like we'll never figure out anything about that door," he said. I suppose even he didn't know anything about the now closed door.

"So now that I found you, let's go meet up with the others." I felt a bit shaken.

"As in... more of your kind?" Sora gave me a questioning look before relaxing.

"I take it you've never seen a human before." A human? That's what his kind is called? It was an odd name, and yet it works.

"Yeah, we don't have those on the other continents." Sora looked a little confused.

"'Continents'?" Then, he look worried. "Oh. Right. Uh..." He seemed troubled about how to say whatever he wanted to say. "Let's find my friends. They can help me explain to you. Nicely." Nicely? Why was I getting the feeling I won't like the news?

"O-okay. Lead the way." Sora began walking to the other end of the cave. Down near the floor is an entrance you need to somewhat crawl through. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze through. Then, I realized something and I started to panic a little. I didn't have my cane!

"Where's my cane?!"

"Your cane?" Sora called. "We found it on the beach. Don't worry, it's just outside the entrance."

I felt relief wash over me. After a little crawling, blinding light invaded my vision and I had to shield them for a moment.

"Here we are, Sly. Welcome to Destiny Islands!" Sora exclaimed excitedly.

As soon as my vision had adjusted to the light, I found myself gazing in amazement at a large blue sea not too far from where Sora and I were standing. There were clouds dotting the bluest sky I ever laid on. It was beautiful.

"You really live here?"

"Well, this is more of a playground island. The main island is just a boat trip away. And here's your cane." Sora picked up my cane from by the entrance like he said. I immediately retrieved it from him.

"Thank you. This cane is very important to me." Sora smiled.

"I thought it was. Now, let's find my friends. Oh, by the way, theirs names are Riku and Kairi. Silver hair and red hair, you can't miss them."

"All right."

As Sora and I searched for his friends, I couldn't help but take in the amazing scenery of this island we were on. The cool breeze blowing from the sea was causing the leaves of the island's trees create a gentle sound of rustling. The noise of the waves lightly coming onto the shore of the beach had created a soothing sound that flowed into my ears. It was like I had slowly become part of this island's nature. And then, a fireball came my way. I yelped as I jumped out of its way. Then, my found my feet frozen together and used my cane to keep myself from falling.

"Who are you?" a serious, young voice questioned. I managed to turn without falling to see another human, only taller and a little older than Sora and a bit of a menacing aura about him with his straight, silver hair and piercing, bright colored eyes. "Is that the cane we found?"

"U-uh..." I felt completely helpless in this guy's presence. I couldn't believe how vulnerable I felt at that moment. "A-are you... Riku, by any chance?" The silver haired human narrowed his eyes at me. Could the guy get any more scary?

Suddenly, Sora shielded me and gave a rather stern looking glare at the silver haired boy. It was obvious that he knew who that boy was.

"Riku, knock it off! This is Sly, the one that I saw in my dream!" he said.

"This is the raccoon guy you told us about?" the guy asked suspiciously.

"Definitely! Now let him go!" The silver haired man, apparently is Riku, huffed a little before my feet were free. Sora turned to me with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about Riku here. He's the very serious type out of us."

I would say that he was more scary than serious. I admit, I was somewhat hesitant to speak, worried that Riku would probably attack me with... what ever he did to attack me with again. After getting my bearings straight, I chose my next words very carefully, as to not get on Riku's bad side again.

"My name is Sly Cooper. I'm an acquaintance of Sora's. It's nice to meet you, Riku." I held back the urge to gulp in nervousness.

"You always seem to meet strange people, Sora." I hoped that was a good thing.

"You boys always leave me out!" a young girl's voice called. I turned to see a red haired human girl. She must be Kairi then. Wow, she was pretty, but probably not single. I'm not interested in her, mind you, I already have a wonderful wife. Sora suddenly smiled happily as soon as he laid his eyes on Kairi. I suppose he must hold a very close bond with her.

"You made it just in time, Kairi! I'd like you to meet Sly!" he said happily. He then moved aside to let Kairi get a better look at me. I waved nervously at her, hoping she wouldn't attack me like Riku did. To my surprise, however, she smiled very kindly.

"You must be the one Sora saw in his dream. My name's Kairi and it looks like you've already met Riku. It's nice to meet you, Sly!" she said in a kind tone.

I couldn't help but smile back. She was a nice young woman, I could tell.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kairi."

"Alright, introductions are done," Riku said harshly. I felt a shiver go up my spine. "Now how did you get here?"

"W-well, I..." I still was intimidated by this guy, even if he's probably a few years younger than me.

"He came out of the door in the cave," Sora explained.

Both Kairi and Riku widen their eyes a bit in surprise. It looked like they knew about the door in the cave as well.

"The door in the cave?" Kairi asked.

"I'm telling you, that door's still a complete mystery to us, even to this day," said Riku.

"How long has that door been there, may I ask?" I couldn't help but be curious about that door. How did I just come out of it? It couldn't be magical, could it?

"Before we were even born, Sly," Sora replied.

"But one thing we know for sure, nothing out of that door doesn't have a meaning," Riku pointed out. "So there's a reason you were sent here to our world." Did... I hear that right?

"Riku!" Sora shouted, a bit angered by what must've been something that shouldn't have been said. Then, he sighed. "So much for explaining it nicely."

"Sora, he doesn't really mean..." I couldn't find the words to finish.

"Yeah." He placed his hands behind his head. "To us, you're... in layman's terms, an alien. You're from a different world than us."

My eyes widen in shock. I was considered an alien in this world? Although, in their defense, I'm pretty sure they've never saw someone like me before in their lives and I've definitely never seen a human before back in my world either. Hold on. If I'm an alien, how were they so calm - uh, besides Riku - when they met me?

"A-are you serious? So I'm... like far from home?"

"Quite far," Kairi answered. "Several reason can exist as to why you're here."

"Um, quick question, though. I'm from another world, but you guys seem chill with me. How come?" Sora chuckled.

"Well, you're not the first talking animal we've met, believe it or not. They happen to be some of our closest friends. But they don't live on this world." I was even more surprised now. Where have these youngsters gone to that I couldn't even comprehend? This sounded like something Bentley would have a Field Day with.

"They're from another world too?"

"Yes. Very far from ours," Riku replied. "Maybe Mickey will have some ideas of what world you're from."

"Let's ask first," Kairi pointed out. "What's your world's name, Sly?"

"Earth."

"Earth..." The trio thought about it. Do they not know what Earth is? "Sorry Sly, I've never heard of that world before."

"Neither have I," Riku added.

"Even in my traveling, I never even heard the name," Sora commented.

tilt my head slightly and gave a slightly confused look. They actually don't know what Earth is? Although, I guess their defense, I'm considered an alien to them in this world of theirs. But still, the thought of these three not knowing what Earth is... To be honest, it left a bit of an uneasy feeling in me.

"But like Riku said, maybe King Mickey will have an idea," Sora said, trying to cheer me up. Did he really say "King"? The thought made me nervous, especially with Riku, who I noticed didn't use "King", meaning he was close to this person. If they found out about my occupation, it may be off with my head!

"You're friends with a king?"

"You're nervous," Riku stated bluntly, making me jump a little. Man, I've really lost all my usual calmness with this guy around.

"Don't worry, King Mickey's really nice," Kairi assured. "And he's really smart too. I'm sure he'll be able to help you."

"And find out what Sly is doing in our world instead of worlds like Radiant Garden or Traverse Town," the serious one pointed out.

"How many worlds have you guys been to?" I couldn't help but ask in surprise. Sora gave this goofy grin that was too cute for a young adult such as himself.

"Sly, you have no idea the places I've been," he commented. This guy just doesn't have a cheerless side, does he? Although, in the dream, he was very serious. He also had that weapon... What was it called again? Something like a "blade" or something?

"We should probably see Mickey right now," Riku suggested. "Would you do the honors, Kairi?" Kairi gave a beaming smile.

"Stand back then, gentlemen!" she exclaimed excitedly. We stepped back a little and the redhead held out her hand. In a flash of light, strange yet beautifully designed sword with a key on the end merged.

"Is... Is that a...?"

"Oh yeah, this is the second time you've seen a Keyblade," Sora realized.

The Keyblade. That's right. He used it against those "Heartless" creatures in the dream.

"Judging by what Sora said, I'm guessing you saw a Keyblade once before, haven't you?" Kairi asked with a kind smile.

"Well, yeah, but only in a dream I had with Sora in it," I said.

"There were Heartless there, so I didn't have a choice," Sora explained. Kairi and, surprisingly even Riku, stepped back a bit in shock.

"Heartless? He saw Heartless?" Riku asked.

"Yes." Riku groaned a little and stared at the ground for a moment.

"Then this is a very serious situation. We need to tell Mickey about this right away."

"Uh, are the Heartless that threatening?"

"We can explain more once we see King Mickey," Sora assured. "Kairi, would you please?"

"One corridor to Disney Castle coming up!" she announced. Suddenly, the end of her Keyblade glowed and a vortex of color appeared. I couldn't hold back my surprise. Was that really a portal?

"Whoa! H-how did you... without a device...!"

"As we said, we'll explain when we see Mickey," Riku said.

I couldn't help but stare at the vortex in shock. Where would this even lead to? Would this thing actually take us to see this King Mickey that the three of them knew? Sora noticed my hesitant behavior and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Sly! Corridors like these are completely harmless! We use them all the time! Trust us!" he reassured.

"O-okay... Just had some unpleasant experiences with vortexes in the past. Long story."

"Again, you attract strange people, Sora," Riku chuckled lowly. So the guy could laugh after all. That's good to see. Kairi entered the corridor first, then Riku. Sora stated by my side with that goofy smile again. I knew I could trust him; he's the only person I can count on the most at the moment in order to get home. So with a deep breath, I stepped through the corridor with Sora following behind.


	4. Chapter 3: The Two Realms

**It's been forever since I updated this and Huntington has already posted the 13 chapters we've completed! Now's the time to catch up! To be sure you all know, this is the edited version while Huntington has the unedited version.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Two Realms**

The pathway we took after passing through that corridor was strange. I'd rather not dwell on it. I thought I would air for a moment. Finally, we stepped out of another passage, entering a lavish, lovely little garden.

"Is this a courtyard?" I asked.

"You could call it that," Sora replied. I could tell that Sora was serious about this garden being like a courtyard. Although, to be honest, I don't think I've seen a courtyard like this one before.

"Is your friend here, Sora? It would help to get some answers about where I am."

"King Mickey should be here," Kairi said. "If not, there's-"

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" The new voice surprised me. I turned around and there was a goofy-looking dog dressed as a knight coming up to us. Sora immediately gave a huge smile full of happiness as soon as he laid his eyes on the dog. From the looks it, I could tell that Sora definitely knew who that dog was.

"Goofy! It's so great to see you again!" Sora exclaimed in an excited manner. So his name was Goofy.

"Gawrsh, it's great to see all of you!" His name definitely fit him. This guy was pretty goofy.

"Goofy, is Mickey here at the moment?" Riku asked.

"Why yes, he's in the study right now." Then, Goofy seemed to have noticed me. "Who's your new friend, Sora?"

"Goofy, I'd like you to meet Sly Cooper. He's from a world that none of us have been to before!"

I then waved in Goofy's direction. While he did give off a very goofy vibe, he did seem like a very nice guy. Goofy then looked at me with a very intrigued look on his face.

"He's from a world that we've never visited before? Gawrsh, that sounds interesting!"

"He traveled from his world to the islands. We were hoping King Mickey could help us find out why."

"Goofy, what are you doing?!" a loud, almost obnoxious voice rang. It was so high pitched and gaggled. "His Majesty has ordered for us!" A small, white duck dressed as a wizard marched from the building. I almost cracked up.

"Hey, Donald!" Sora greeted with his chipper tone. The duck, who apparently has the name Donald, immediately gave a look of surprise as soon as he heard Sora's voice. Another one of Sora's friends... This will take some getting used to.

"Sora?" Donald turned Sora's way. Then, he grinned. "Well, what do you know? Great to see you, Riku and Kairi again!" Donald made his way over to us and looked at me with a suspicious stare. "Who's this?"

"Donald, this is Sly. He's not from any world we've been to before," Sora explained. "And don't worry. We can trust him." I waved at Donald, though a bit more nervously than I did with Goofy. While the suspicious look he gave me did soften up a bit, I just couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy.

"If you two were ordered to go, we should too," Riku pointed out.

I was going to meet the king. I was feeling very nervous, especially in the presence of Riku and Donald.

"Yeah, you're right, Riku. We can all go," said Sora.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's get going, everyone!" said Goofy.

We headed out to the study where the king was, with me still feeling nervous. I wondered what this king looked like. Stereotypical lion? A rooster (better behaved and not selfish like Tsao)? Even if neither of them, he must be a powerful figure.

We turned a corner, which led to a large door. I felt myself shake a little in my boots. This King wasn't a giant, was he?

Donald pushed a section of the door. I didn't think he could push it open... until a smaller, more reasonable door popped open. Now I was just confused. Donald gestured us to follow him through the door. On the other side of it was what looked like a gigantic library of sorts. There was a desk in the back of the room and I could hear a quil moving along paper.

I looked towards the desk where I saw a mouse sitting behind the desk and writing on a piece of paper. I glanced at the others and I could tell by the looks of their faces that they knew who the mouse was.

Could this mouse actually be the king that we were told about? That's the first thing that came into my mind as I moved my gaze back towards the mouse.

"Is this the king you were telling me about, Sora?" Hopefully he could help me find out what's going on. Sora glanced at me and nodded. Okay, this was surprising. I was, no offense to his Majesty, expecting a bigger guy.

The king looked up from his parchment in knowledge of our presence.

"Well, hi there, everybody! I'm so glad that you all came here today!" said the king in a cheery manner. He seemed to be a very nice guy.

"It's nice to see you too, your Majesty," said Sora. "Something important must be going on for you to call us here."

"Gosh, you get word fast." Then, the king saw me.

"Y-your Majesty," I quickly greeted, bowing as good as I could without shivering a little.

"This is Sly, Your Majesty," Sora introduced me. Again. What's with me today? I couldn't stop myself shivering out of fear when the king looked at me for a moment. Suddenly, that anxious feeling slowly melted away when he suddenly gave me a very kind smile.

"Sly, huh? Well, it's very nice to meet you! My name's Mickey, the king of this castle! It's very nice to meet you!" said the king, whose name was apparently Mickey.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm apparently from a world Sora's never been to before, and we were hoping you could help us figure out what's going on."

"A world Sora doesn't know of. This is certainly interesting." He then looked like a thought struck him and he began to ponder. After a few seconds, he looked back at me with a serious expression before turning to Sora.

"Sly's sudden appearance may be tied into what I'm looking into."

Sora then tilted his head a bit in curiosity.

"What you're looking into? What exactly do you mean, Your Majesty?" Sora asked.

"I had recently returned from Master Yen Sid's tower. He had called me for something urgent. Apparently, time and space had been slightly distorted."

"Distorted?" Kairi asked.

"He asked me to look into this. From what I found so far, there was some sort of burst of mysterious power that created a small wormhole from another world to another. Something of immense energy."

"So this burst of power ended up creating another a wormhole between two other worlds... But what exactly could these two worlds be?" Riku asked.

"Well, from what Sora said about Sly coming from a world that none of us has ever been to, I have reason to believe that these two worlds may be our world and Sly's world," said Mickey.

"I think I know what made this burst of power," I told them. "A jewel I got during a meteor shower a while back was looked at by a friend of mine, and he noticed a huge amount of power coming from it." Sora turned to me in great surprise.

"What did you say?" he asked. "A gem during a meteor shower?"

"Yeah. I have it right here." I pulled the gem out of my bag, but it felt a little different than when I held it earlier. Everyone in the room was surprised, even Riku.

"What is that?" Donald questioned. I could only shrug at him.

"There's two of them?" Kairi gasped. Wait. Two?

"Two? Two what?"

"Look, Sly." To my surprise, Sora pulled out a cyan version of the jewel I was holding. I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"You have a jewel like I do, Sora?!" I asked with a voice full of surprise.

"You bet. I got this jewel during a meteor shower just like you did, Sly. Other than the fact that they're both different colors, they look exactly the same."

Then I remembered how I saved Murray and Carmelita. I felt like I should bring it up to them.

"Dark creatures were attacking my homeworld, and to save one of my friends I ran towards him with jewel in hand, and when I open my eyes I see my cane transformed into the sword you use, Sora."

The room was filled with screams of shock.

"No way!" Sora exclaimed.

"You wielded a Keyblade?!" Riku asked.

"How is that possible?!" Donald shouted. "There's no way Keyblade wielders existed in your world!"

"I don't know how that happened either. I just wanted to save my friends and all of a sudden, it was there. My cane looked different, I could feel power rush through and before I knew it, I had slain those monsters."

Everyone in the room stared at me with the most shocked looks I've ever seen. To be honest, I couldn't really blame them for doing that. It was a complete shock to me when it happened to me when I was in my world.

"Hmm... This is a strange situation we're in. I think we better hear the beginning of when all of this happened," King Mickey suggested.

I went ahead and told everyone in the study about the meteor shower on my world, the jewel, meeting Sora, and the Heartless attack. They were most shocked by there being Heartless on my world. I couldn't exactly blame any of them for being so shocked, though. Admittedly, I thought I would've seen the last of those things when I had that dream with Sora in it.

"There were Heartless in your world, Sly?!" Sora asked with a shocked voice.

"I have no idea how they got to my world, but yes, there were some Heartless there."

"This isn't good," Goofy pointed out. "If no Keyblade wielders live on Sly's world, the Heartless could destroy it!"

"Destroy?!" I exclaimed. I was horrified. Those things could destroy Earth?

The others looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. It was obvious that they knew what the Heartless were capable of doing.

"This is really bad, everyone. Unless we can manage to get to Sly's world in time, who knows how long it'll be until the Heartless manage to destroy that world!" said Mickey.

"Gawrsh, but other than that wormhole that brought Sly here, how're we supposed to get there?" asked Goofy.

"If that wormhole brought me here, maybe it can bring us to my home. That's my best idea," I reasoned.

"Well, likely, you first were in a bit of trouble," Riku stated. "You said you were being pulled down into darkness before you woke up on our island. I highly doubt we can replicate the experience."

"That is true. Unless there's some device that creates wormholes..." Now I was worrying more.

Oh. I forgot the reason we're here. "Your Majesty, do you know of a world called Earth?"

The king and his subjects gave me confused looks before the king gave my question some thought.

"Earth... Earth... Where have I heard that name before?"

"Never heard of it," Donald said with a tone I didn't like.

"Sorry, no bells ringing here," Goofy added.

"I believe... Master Yen Sid told me about a world called Earth, along with many other worlds," King Mickey finally answered.

"There's actually a world out there known as Earth, Your Majesty?" Kairi asked, her eyes widened up from surprise.

"Well, like I said, only Master Yen Sid told me about a world with that name, but I believe it's very likely that such a world like that one exists, especially since Sly's from a world with the same name," King Mickey explained.

This "Master Yen Sid" sounds like a smart guy.

"So if Master Yen Sid knows of Sly's world, he may know a way to get there," Sora said.

"It's possible. Unfortunately, Master Yen Sid closed the gateway to his tower after I left. So we'll have to unlock the gateway manually."

"Gateway? Manually?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You see Sly, the world's are connected loosely by gateways in space," Kairi explained. "You can use special vehicles to travel between these worlds. There's also different methods of the same thing, but the vehicle method is the safest."

"So if we want to reach Master Yen Sid's tower manually, we'll have to go to Radiant Garden first," Riku pointed out.

I tilted my head in confusion as soon as I heard the name of the place that Riku had mentioned.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is this Radiant Garden place?" I asked. "It's definitely a place I've never heard of back on Earth."

"It's an important world for us to visit, one that's been the home of many people important to our adventures," Sora explained.

"You sure are friends with a lot of "aliens" as you put them."

"'Aliens'?" Donald deadpanned while giving Sora an unamused face. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, what're we waitin' for, everybody?" Goofy asked. "If we're gonna get to Master Yen Sid's in order to find out how we can get to Sly's world before the Heartless destroys it, then we better get goin' to Radiant Garden now before it's too late!"

Hopefully everybody home was still OK. I looked to Sora for relief. "I trust you to help me get home in time, Sora."

Sora gave me that cheerful, reassuring smile.

"It's a promise."

At the moment he said that, I had the gut feeling that this would be my longest adventure ever.

* * *

 **Please be sure to leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 4: New World, Ho!

**Thank goodness I already had this chapter edited!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: New World, Ho!**

Would Bentley and Penelope do to be in this ship. I couldn't help but grin ear to ear at the thought. And I couldn't stop grinning because this ship apparently runs on happiness. Just the name of "Gummi Ship" was funny in itself, but I kept it to myself.

I couldn't believe how many worlds I saw just by sitting in one place on the bridge of the ship. It made me wish the gang was here to see this.

"This is amazing, Sora. Ever since I met you, I've seen and heard so many things that leave me shocked."

"Glad you like the view, Sly!" Sora said, looking back at me with a smile. "Personally, I never get tired of this whenever I come through here!" I couldn't blame him for that. His world's are just amazing to even look at.

"We'll be in Radiant Garden in a few minutes," King Mickey announced.

"What are we looking for when we arrive?" Sora then began to think for a moment, almost like he was trying to remember something. Hopefully what he was trying to remember is a way to this Yen Sid's tower.

"Sorry, it's been a while since a path had to be opened manually for me," he apologized with a sheepish smile. How could a young adult like him be this cute? I bet he'd win an award for a Lolita Contest if it weren't for the spiky hair. "Gateways between worlds are opened by unlocking special keyholes with certain items. They sometimes need some time to locate them. Mostly, they're an important item."

"I see. So what item are we looking for?"

"It depends on the world and if it leads to Master Yen Sid's tower."

"I hope it's not a wild goose chase." Before I realized it, the sky outside was a sunset pink and yellow. Incredibly gorgeous.

"Like the view from up here?" Kairi asked, joining us. She had a reminiscing smile on her face. I looked down and I was surprised to see a floating town with a large, currently-in-reconstruction castle. It was magnificent from this high up.

"That's Radiant Garden."

"... Beautiful," was all I could say. It must be the most beautiful town I've ever seen. "Does anybody have an idea of where we should start the search?" Sora thought for a moment or two again.

"Well, there are a couple of people that we know in Radiant Garden that we could ask for help," Sora said.

"And..." I looked down again. I could see a good sized opening in a street, but I doubt we'd allowed to park there. And no way am I jumping from this high, even with the parachute in my backpack. "How are we going to get down there?"

"Easy, I do this every time," Donald proudly stated. With a wave of his weird wand, there was a flash of light and suddenly, we were on the ground. The scent of flowers flooded my sense of smell.

"I'm not even going to ask how you did that, Donald." I then looked around the area that we managed to appear in. My initial reaction to Radiant Garden was exactly the same when I first saw the world from the Gummi Ship; it was just breathtakingly beautiful.

"Ah, Radiant Garden, wonderful that it's been fully restored," King Mickey commented.

"Restored?" I would like to tear apart anyone who would ruin such a beautiful place.

"That's part of the long story," Sora explained. I just nodded, still taking in the beauty of this world. I would love to take Carmelita on a date here.

"Let's go see everyone at the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee," Kairi announced.

"If the people there are friendly, then sure, let's do that."

"Don't worry, Sly. Most of the members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee are really easy to get along with!" Sora reassured, before giving a sheepish smile. "Well, most of them at least."

"Most of them?" I asked nervously.

"You'll see when we get there. Now, come on! We don't have time to waste!" Sora sounded very eager to see these people. The "most of them" part still left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

Speaking of that, as I followed Sora and the others, I realized that I was a little famished. I probably didn't notice because of the shift in the sky. But I didn't point out my slight hunger. We had something to do first.

After some walking, we reached a home well suitable for several people.

"Is this the place where the committee meets, Sora?"

"You bet it is," Sora said. "They're most likely inside right now."

"And you're sure that they'll be able to help us get to this Yen Sid's tower?" I asked.

"Well, it's best to at least give it a shot instead of not trying at all." I guess I couldn't argue with that. Sora eagerly opened the door. The inside was a mix between an infirmary, a cozy home and a lab. Sounds a lot like our hideout in Paris.

Inside were, I would say seven humans, one old guy with a beard and dressed like a goofy wizard, two girls, two boys that I could tell that I didn't want to mess with, an older guy at the computer desk, and a spiky, redheaded man. Interesting mix of people. I'm going on a limb that the younger blonde and the brunette guy were the people Sora told me that I might not get along with right away.

"Yo, gang!" the redhead greeted. I wasn't expecting this many people. I guessed we had a lot of introductions to do. The other humans then turned towards us in surprise of hearing the redhead.

"Sora! Everyone! We weren't expecting to see you guys here!" A tomboyish girl with short, black hair said in the surprise.

"Sorry about the short notice," Riku said. "Something suddenly came up- more like someone came out." Riku glanced at me.

"Who's the blue guy?" the older blonde questioned. My nose scrunched a little. I already didn't like this guy's attitude.

"It's Sly," I told them, giving Sora a break from introducing me. I looked at said brunette human. "Sora, you were saying these people may be able to help us."

"Ah, come on, Sly, give them a chance!" Sora reassured me. "I'm sure they'll be able to do whatever they can to help!"

"I'm taking your word for it."

"Over there is Yuffie and Aerith," Sora pointed to the two girls, "This is Cid," he gestured to the rude blonde, "these two are Cloud and Leon," we turned to the two tough guys, "this is Merlin the Wizard," Sora looked to the old guy (I almost laughed; "Merlin"), "and this is Lea, or Axel," he pointed to the redhead. That one seemed like the chill kind, someone I know I would like.

"And this is all one world? You know a lot of people, Sora."

"Trust me when I say this, Sly. These guys were just the beginning of me meeting a bunch of different people in the worlds I've visited," Sora said.

I couldn't help but widen my eyes in surprise a bit. Sora actually knows tons of different people other than these seven? Just how many worlds did he even travel to?

"Well, nice to meet you, Sly!" the black haired girl, which I'm assuming to be Yuffie, greeted. The other girl Aerith waved with a smile.

"Quite a new friend you have there," Lea commented. "Where'd you meet him?"

"On the islands, actually," Sora replied.

"You met him there?" the brunette man, I'm guessing Leon, questioned.

"He came from another world. And that's why we're here."

"We need help in manually opening the pathway to Master Yen Sid's," King Mickey pointed out. "Do you know anything about where we should look?"

"You need help in opening up the pathway to Yen Sid's?" Yuffie asked.

"Excuse me, but before we can try and help all of you, would it be alright if you told us why you need to find a way to open up that pathway, if you don't mind me asking?" Aerith asked.

"Master Yen Sid may know more about Sly's world," Riku explained.

"You see, Sly is not from any world we've visited before," Goofy added. "So we were hoping Yen Sid could help us."

"An unexplored world, you say?" Merlin inquired. "What might this world be?"

"My home's called Earth," I told them.

"Never heard of that one," Cid commented. "Funny name too."

"It's _not_ funny."

"Earth... You'd think that's a world far beyond where anyone has been," the spiky blonde Cloud commented. "If anyone may have knowledge about it, it's Yen Sid. Possibly Ansem as well."

"Ansem?"

"Ansem the Wise, the ruler of this world and a friend of mine," King Mickey explained.

"That's part of the long story, and if I started it now, we could be here for a long time," Sora added.

"Yes, and we can see that the reason why you need to seek Yen Sid for his assistance is most likely an urgent one and can't be kept waiting," Aerith said.

"If anyone has something connected to the gateway, Ansem may have a better idea," Merlin said. "I suggest going to see him."

"And where would we find him?"

"At the castle," Sora replied like it wasn't a big deal. What's with these worlds and castles? "The guards will surely let us in."

"Then we should get going. If I ever find a way back to this world after going home, I'd like to come back and see you again."

"Thanks, Sly. And if I ever manage to run into your world, I'd like to come and see you there too." Now that thought alone gave me something to be eager about.

"Before you go," Leon interjected, handing me a card. "A friend of Sora's is always a member in our committee." The card looked like a standard member card.

"Thank you." I accepted the card out of satisfaction that we were pals and joy that they accepted me. I turned to Sora again. "So which way is it to the castle? Maybe on the way you could at least start this long story I've heard so much about."

"Well, luckily for you, Sly, we all practically know the way to the castle from here like it's the back of our hands! We'll get there in no time!" He had a confident smile on his face. Of course he knew the way. He's probably been coming here for years. I hope this Ansem the Wise has the answers I'm looking for.

"And now, let's begin the long story, but I'll try to be as specific as possible," Sora began as we departed from the committee headquarters. The way he said "specific" led me to believe that this story really was a long one.


	6. Chapter 5: Ansem

**Chapter 5: Ansem**

The castle looked even bigger close up than from above it. I definitely wouldn't want to cross the guy that lived here.

Two guards stood at the foot of the door to the inside. Both looked like humans I wouldn't want to mess with or else I'll get a lance in my face.

"Do you think the people here will be able to help me, Sora?"

Sora looked over at me with a smile of reassurance.

"I'm sure they will," Sora said. "They're practically our best bet at this point."

I still couldn't help but gulp as we drew closer to the guards. Usually, I'm using stealth or disguise when I wanted to get in somewhere. But through the front door with nothing, it made me nervous.

"Who's this?" the long haired guy with the lance questioned, pointing his weapon at me.

"Dilan, this is Sly. He's a friend," Sora explained. "We need to speak with Ansem the Wise."

"It's on urgent matters," King Mickey added. I forgot the king knew this wise person. And, truthfully, you can't say "no" to a king affiliated with your ruler.

"Urgent matters? Well, if it's that important, I'm going to have to trust you." With that said, the two guards then proceeded to step aside from the castle's door.

"All of you may enter," Dilan, the long haired man wielding the lance, said.

The doors opened slowly. We all go in and I stayed close to Sora just in case.

"This is an unusual, new companion of yours," a creepy voice commented. Nearby was a long haired man and a younger, dark haired guy with bangs over his right eye nearby. Both of them wore lab coats.

"Here to see Ansem, Even," Sora said.

"You wish to speak with Ansem, you say?" the dark haired guy said. "For what reason would that be, if I may ask?"

"It's a bit of a long story, Ienzo," King Mickey replied. "However, to keep it short and simple, it's extremely important that we speak to him as soon as possible."

"We can tell by the looks on your faces that this is a rather urgent matter for all of you," Even, the long haired man, said.

"In that case, we'd be happy to escort you to Ansem if you'd like," said the younger male, Ienzo.

"We'd greatly appreciate it," his Majesty said. "Thank you."

The two led us down a tall hallway. Eventually, we came to a study. An elderly man in robes and slight greeting blonde hair was seated in the center with a pen in one hand and an ice cream bar in the other.

"Visitors, Our Lord," Even announced with a bow along with Ienzo.

"That is Ansem, Sora?"

"Yep, that's definitely him, Sly," Sora said. So, that man's the one and only Ansem the Wise I've been hearing about, huh? I could tell by just looking at him that he does give off a vibe of intelligence. Ansem looked up from his work and for a split second appeared to meet my eyes. He truly had an air of wisdom around him.

"Pleasure to see you, everyone," he greeted. Wow, even his voice sounded wise.

"Hello, Ansem," King Mickey greeted. "We came here because we need to get to Yen Sid's tower. We were hoping you would have an idea on what the key to the tower might be."

"If you need to see Yen Sid, it must be urgent. Might it be related to this man here?" He must be meaning me.

"My name is Sly," I greeted.

"Sly? An interesting name. Not a name that would be common in the nearby worlds."

"That's why we need to see Yen Sid, Ansem," Riku replied. "Sly is not from any of the worlds any of us had previously discovered." Ansem looked a bit surprised.

"Surely, you don't mean... he could from the outside?"

"The outside?" Goofy questioned.

"Not meaning worlds that are not this one specifically. I'm into research on this and I found something very mysterious."

Ansem stood up - wow, he's tall for an elderly guy - and went up to a cabinet and pulled out a file. For the first time since I got here, I realized I couldn't read the written language in these worlds. I'd never seen words like them before.

"The worlds you have been to... are just a small fraction of our universe." The wise man handed the file to King Mickey. "I've theorized that these worlds are within a barrier that keep them closed from the thousands of others."

"So there are even more worlds?" Sora asked.

"Many more, Sora. More than can be counted. I suspect that possibly, Sly is from a world outside of the barrier. That is why you had never encountered his world before." All this talk about barriers made me think of the crazy dimension adventure and how we had to go through barriers in time and space to different universes.

"Do you think Yen Sid will help me get home, Ansem? Last time I was home, a Heartless attack started, and that worries me." As soon as I mentioned the Heartless, I noticed Ansem's body tense up a bit. Is he also familiar with the Heartless?

"The Heartless have appeared in your world, Sly?" the wise man asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, and I have been told that if we don't hurry back to my world, the Heartless will use the opportunity to destroy it. That's why we need to go to Yen Sid's Tower."

"Yen Sid will be someone to seek. I have only made a small breakthrough to the discovery of the barriers. So with that, it's as far as I can help."

Heartless... Traveling through space... and time... I really need to get home and see if good old Mother Earth is hanging in there!

"Um, Sly?" I heard Sora call. I looked at him for a moment before noticing the glowing from my satchel. I reached in and pulled out two things: the committee card and the strange jewel. They seemed to be reacting to each other or something. What is going on with this jewel?

I looked at everyone else in the room and needless to say, the expressions that they were making on their faces pretty much looked exactly like the one I was making. Even Ansem himself had a look of surprise on his face.

"Uh, are these things supposed to be glowing like that?" I asked out of confusion. This is getting weirder and weirder by the second.

"The card not possibly, but the gem maybe," Kairi answered.

"I believe you have already brought the answer to what you're looking for," Ansem said. I could hear the slightest hint of humor in his voice.

Was it me, or did I feel a tingle in the hand that was holding my cane? Not that I was able to tell anyone before Sora summoned his Keyblade. My card lifted itself from my hand and was floating in the air. The tip of Sora's Keyblade glowed and he looked like he was in a trance for a moment. When I looked up, I could swear that I saw the thin outline of a keyhole and the sound of something unlocking.

A moment later, the card came back down to my hand.

"There! We now have access to Master Yen Sid's tower!" Sora announced. He seemed unaffected by the trance.

I may not have known what just happened, but what I do know is that we can't waste any time getting to Yen Sid's tower. Who knows how long we have until the Heartless manage to destroy my world.

"Sly," Ansem called. "I will suggest that you and Sora be careful."

I could tell by Sora's face that he was just as confused as I was.

"Inhabitants of worlds in different barriers aren't supposed to cross paths unless it is an urgent purpose. So Heartless should not be in your world... unless the barriers were damaged."

"Damaged?" I didn't like the sound of that.

"The Heartless must've sensed the hearts of the worlds in your respective barrier and spilled into it. That's how the Heartless got there."

That didn't ease me that my gang would be alright for a little longer.

"Go. Meet with Yen Sid and find your way home."

"Thank you for your help," I replied. Knowing that, this would be a task that I couldn't do alone, so I turned to Sora. "When I get home, I'm probably going to need your help getting rid of the Heartless, Sora."

"You can definitely bet that I'll do whatever I can to help your world out, Sly! In fact, all of us will!" Sora said with a beaming smile on his face.

In response, I gave Sora a smile of my own. It was nice knowing that him and his friends were willing to help me chase away the Heartless from my world once we got there.

I could tell from a single look that every one of them was very powerful and had the power to defeat Heartless.

"Alright, back to the ship everyone," King Mickey ordered. As we started filing out of the study, I had to scratch the back of my right hand. Why was it slightly itching like this, like something was being burned onto my fur?


End file.
